Twitter: latamthought- MT @FrancMex: Mexico's competition watchdog has upheld a fine of almost $1 billion against Telcel, Carlos Slim's mobile phone company.
- Relatively detailed account of money laundering from Guatemala to Panama http://t.co/Whkxu19p
- Via @RioGringa: Symbolism really does matter http://t.co/JI0xxewE
- Blog: Mexico dodges a bullet http://t.co/mbgZOYcA
Author Archives: Eliot Brockner
misLEDEing
Hopefully The Daily Show or Colbert Report will pick up on this one. I took a picture of this headline during Sunday afternoon cable news network programming:
The price of gas is a major story here in the US, and drug related violence is a major story in Mexico, particularly among US media. My skepticism about [...]
Concerns with the Brazil Narrative
Thank you to Rio Gringa and Andrew Downie for calling out international coverage of the recent collapse of several buildings in Rio de Janeiro. Numerous English-language media outlets have used the tragic collapses, which left 17 dead and dozens injured, as a platform to talk about infrastructure in Brazil and the country’s preparedness for 2014 [...]
On Extraditions and Colombian-Panamanian Ties
Much has been made about Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos’ success at mending relations with his neighbors to the east and south. Rightly so. Given the difficult situation he inherited from his predecessor, this is no small feat.
But Santos’ newest diplomatic test may now come from the north.
On Jan. 3, Panamanian Foreign Minister Roberto Henriquez [...]
Posted in Colombia, Panama Tagged Alvaro Uribe, border issues, Chuzadas, Juan Manuel Santos Leave a comment
US households becoming more Latin American?
A major narrative in the US media (CNN, NYT, MSNBC, WaPo, just to name a few) these days is that of the ‘Lost Generation’, i.e. those recent college graduates who, unable to find jobs and saddled with debt, are returning to live at home after graduating college. A whole slew of articles has been written [...]
Brazil in Latin America: Emerging political risks?
Simon Romero has written a solid article on the front page of yesterday’s NYT about how Brazil’s rise and activity in Latin America is creating diplomatic problems with some its regional neighbors. The article itself is worth reading in its entirety, as it points to an interesting trend in regional politics, but for brevity’s sake, [...]
Posted in Bolivia, Brazil Tagged border issues, Diplomacy, Evo Morales, Free Trade, Infrastructure, Political Risk Leave a comment
Overstating Cartels’ Relevance to the American Electorate
The lead article in last week’s Proceso talks about the political importance of capturing El Chapo for both the Calderon and Obama administrations. The article is worth a read in its entirety, but the focus of this post is on a quote from the informed and esteemed analyst/lawyer/economist Edgardo Buscaglia:
“For Obama, El Chapo is Osama [...]
Latin America’s Security Dilemma Continued
Sam Novacich and I have a piece at ISN in which we take a closer look at one of Rio’s Pacifying Police Units (UPP) in the Cantagalo/Pavão-Pavãozinho communities and document some of the challenges the community members and UPP are facing with the new game in town.
In addition to looking into some of the lesser-reported impacts [...]
Different Means, Same Ends
Oil production in Colombia is a popular topic these days. Domestic production levels are at an all time high, and Colombian state-owned oil behemoth Ecopetrol is considering selling 10 percent of its stake in the firm to the public. Dow Jones reports the deal will likely go down in 2012. Silla Vacia has an excellent [...]
Mexico Dodges a Bullet